Smart-e-Pants' electric underwear prevents bed sores

Electric underwear might sound like a provocative burlesque act,
but a Canadian team of researchers have created a pair of pants that deliver a mild electrical current to the
wearer's backside every 10 minutes in order to prevent
bedsores.

For the bedridden or wheelchair-bound, bedsores can be a serious
health problem and a literal pain in the arse. These pressure ulcers arise when there is a lack of oxygen and
movement stimulating compressed areas of the body -- often the
backs of the legs or the bottom. This is caused when soft tissue is
compressed between a bony prominence and an external surface such
as a mattress or wheelchair for a long time. The soft tissue starts
to break down when it can't get oxygenated blood and nutrients,
causing an ulcer. These can deteriorate into deep pressure ulcers
which go through the muscle tissue through to the bone. For some
people they can be a minor inconvenience, but for other people they
can lead to life-threatening complications such as blood poisoning
or gangrene.

The newly developed Smart-e-Pants underwear work to simulate the
movement and blood flow artificially. They look like a regular pair of briefs but feature embedded electrodes to deliver a painless
current for 10 seconds every 10 minutes. This helps to replicate
the fidgeting movements that able-bodied people make to keep blood
circulating and avoid that numb-bum feeling that tends to signal
that your meeting has been going on for too long.

Vivian Mushahwar, spinal cord injury expert and team leader at
Alberta Health
Solutions, which funded the project, said: "If you stimulate
the muscles that experience pressure such as those that we sit on,
you can restore some of the subconscious postural adjustments and
prevent pressure ulcers."

The Smart-e-Pants have been piloted successfully and are now
being subjected to further tests. The end product is expected to
cost a whopping £1,280 (2,000 Canadian dollars) -- a lot more
expensive than Myla and Agent Provocateur stuff, but worth it for
avoiding bedsores, which are surprisingly often fatal.